Does the "time-to-fat-adaptation" clock reset if you go over 20g carbs?

fathead
carlshead
ketoadaptation
(Stuart Thom) #1

Hi all,

I’m just going into my 2nd week of keto & loving it so far, but I was wondering what your thoughts were on if eating too many carbs in a given day effectively resets how long I’ll need to wait until fat adaptation hits?

I was starving last night and made a Carl-head version of the Fathead Pizza, and topped it with bacon, chorizo & mozzarella. It was delicious, but I ended up eating 3 quarters of it (my son nicked a couple of slices before I could get to them)!

In all this still wouldn’t have put me over 20g carbs for the day but it did make me think about if going over would reset the time or not. I’m very motivated to get to fat adaptation as quickly as possible and don’t want to jeopardise getting there, but am also following the advice of not worrying about calories yet & just focussing on the macros.

Any thoughts & tips would be most welcome!

Cheers,

Stu

#2

All I know is 20g is a “safe” estimate for a lot of people. Some can have more, but that’s generally the target.

Considering that you’d easily eat 30-40 on the SAD (standard American diet) per MEAL, per day… I’d say don’t read into it and definitely don’t beat yourself up over it.

There’s a good reason that “Keep Calm and Keto On” seems to stick.

Think long term :slight_smile:

(Sarah ) #3

Your body makes the appropriate machinery to deal with the energy in your blood stream… and at this point its mostly needed to build carb burning machinery. Itsjust now being forced to switch over to fat Aka ketone burning machines. It’s a slow process and you felt the effects,especially the first few days,of poor energy efficiency. As your body is forced to convert to fat burning machinery,your energy levels will come up. Most people take at least 4 weeks to experience at least decently efficient fat burning. If you consume more than negligible amount of carbs, like maybe 20-30 grams a day, your body won’t be as pressured to convert, quite as fast, but it’s certainly not going to “reset the clock”

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

Dr. Stephen Phinney, who coined the term “nutritional ketosis,” defines a low-carb diet as under about 100 grams a day, and he talks about people entering ketosis while eating that much carbohydrate. These forums, however, cater for the metabolically deranged, so we recommend only 20 grams a day or less, since that is a level at which practically anybody can enter ketosis.

You might well be able to tolerate a higher level of carbohydrate, but you would have to experiment to find out. For myself, I try to stick as close to zero as I can, even though I suspect I could handle a fair amount, but that’s because I am a sugar and probably carb addict. Anything over a small amount of carbohydrate stimulates cravings and eventually overconsumption, so it’s safer for me to avoid carbs as much as I can. (That said, I live with sugar-burners, so it can be difficult. I try not to beat myself up if I eat an apple or some blueberries once in a while.)

#5

I don’t have a metabolic disorder but eat LCHF for long term health benefits after having tried it for weight loss. I recently got a blood glucose and ketone meter to see which carbs I can tolerate and to see what my carb limit is for ketosis. So far, I find that I stay in ketosis if I eat under 60 net per day, though I’m usually much less that during the week, when I eat OMAD. Point is…you have to find this out for yourself. I have been surprised how many carbs I can eat and stay in ketosis.

#6

Was wondering the same thing last weekend, as I was invited to a birthday party, and cake was being passed around. I didn’t want to appear rude, so I took a small piece, would have been over 20g, but not over 100g.

I figured that from the way people talked about fat adaptation working, it would only set me back, not “reset” me. After all, just like someone who has given up caffeine doesn’t suddenly regain all their extra adenosine receptors after one coffee, if my body is increasing mitochondria density to turn ketones into ATP, it’s not suddenly going to lose them because there’s carbs available for a few hours.

By the way, I too am at the end of week 2, and I’m down 2kg :slight_smile: Interestingly though, my body fat composition has stopped dropping. I’m wondering if that’s because I am now losing lean mass, or because since I have only a bioelectrical impedance scale, it’s only measuring my BF% in my legs, and I’m losing fat from elsewhere.

(Tessy M.) #7

When I first began keto, I was well past the four week mark when I got over the keto flu. I stayed in keto for months but had a bad week on vacation. When getting back into keto, it only took about a week.
I have experienced it myself, and have read many others say that once your body has become fat adapted, it becomes a little easier to get back to it if you go overboard with the carbs…within a reasonable amount of time I’m sure.